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In Australia and in many other societies around the world, the political economic and cultural concerns of people with disabilities have been marginalized. As a result of this, people with disabilities are among the greatest socioeconomically downtrodden; consequently they are one of the most socially excluded peoples in society. Based on interviews with leading politicians and academics, extensive document based research, and engagement with key theoretical and policy debates, this book engages with key policy and social issues for people with disabilities. In addition to analysing current policy and social processes around disability, this book aims to contribute to more developed approaches to disability services. The author also provides important and new insights into these issues through personal narratives about his own experiences of living with a degenerative disability. This book will be of interest to researchers in social and political sciences, and also to people interested in learning more about the experiences and political struggles of people with disabilities in contemporary societies and their influences on policy processes.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr Peter Gibilisco B Bus (Acc) PhD (Melb) a person who is 48; has Friedreich's Ataxia a progressive condition that left him wheelchair bound, with slurred speech, to name a few inherent defects. Despite this has shown a command of different abilities succeeding in a PhD at the University of Melbourne, where he researches as an (Honorary) Fellow.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

This book by Dr Peter Gibilisco is an important read for those interested in therelationship between disability and politics. It draws on some of the possibleweaknesses and some strengths of the combination of Disability and Politics.Seeking to explain the correlation between the two from the outset (p1), the bookbrings about further debate concerning politics and people with disabilities, as theinteraction between the two is in many cases an implicit part of life. It looks at the agendas posed for people with disabilities by different political ideologies.

In the process this book makes use of many practical examples of outcomes formany people with disabilities. It is argued in many cases, that these outcomesare directly and indirectly related to policies promoted by governments, which inmost cases cannot consider the essential need for assistance, due to budgetaryconstraints. The main argument concerning people with disabilities focuses on themany social and economic imbalances that are influenced by the inadequacies ofpublic policy.

Therefore, Dr Gibilisco believes public policy has failed to meet necessaryprogressive social changes to politics of people with disabilities, and to make societymore inclusive.

Well done Dr Peter Gibilisco!This work is the result of great persistence over many years.Not only will it provide readers with a cogent critique of neo-liberal economics, shall we say from the seat of an electrified wheel-chair, but it will also provide much needed insight into the kinds of problems faced by severely disabled, non-celebrity members of our consumeristic societies who are determined to live out their lives by putting to good use the God-given abilities they have been given and if possible make a difference. This book makes a difference. The book, as an artifact, is a concrete demonstration of how "simple matters" like writing and publishing a book - NB at a typing rate of much less than 5 words a minute - can also make a profound contribution that inspires us to think again ... read this book and let what it says sink in. Breathe it in deeply and let your thoughts marinate in what Peter encourages you to think about! Let his an analysis help you see your social life in a new light! I'm sure you'll be grateful for the experience! And it may also, in time, help you make a difference too, in promoting a just society for all its members!

Terms like neoliberalism, third way and social democracy are thrown around with gay abandon in op-ed pieces across the world. For those outside of the academy or on the margins of political economy, these terms hold marginal relevance to the trials and tribulations of everyday life. For many inside the academy or immersed in the cut and thrust of political life, these terms are used with limited accuracy. Dr Gibilisco's work provides a readable insight into the origin and meaning of these concepts, and their relevance to modern life. This in and of itself makes Dr Gibilisco's work a compelling read, but there is also profound commentary around the relationship between major themes of political economy and disability which questions, challenges and subverts contemporary approaches to disability policy in the Australian and international context. Aspects of this work should be compulsory reading for researchers, policy makers and activists involved in disability policy and or an interest in achieving an inclusive society.